JUNE 2025
CELEBRATING 146 YEARS AS CANADA’S PREMIER HORTICULTURAL PUBLICATION
THEGROWER.ORG
TRADE NUMBERS
Border troubles? Look beyond the headlines
Humberto Morales Acosta is one of dozens of temporary foreign workers who is harvesting asparagus at Sandy Shore Farms, Port Burwell, Ontario. The highly anticipated spring crop is welcomed in the Ontario marketplace, replacing imports from Peru, Mexico and the U.S. Photos by Jeff Tribe.
Tired of trade war trauma? Looking at cross-border statistics – what’s coming in and what’s shipping out – helps to better understand market uncertainty regarding Canadian horticultural commodities. At least that seems to be the story for Ontario asparagus and Maritime wild blueberries. Ontario grows most of Canada’s asparagus, with Québec not too far behind and that’s more than enough to go around. In fact, historically, about 65 per cent of Ontario’s crop gets exported to the U.S. Statistics reveal that Ontario asparagus acreage has declined in the last five years to 3,300 harvested acres, a right-sizing to match consumer demand. Thanks to the University of Guelph’s breeding efforts, their rust-resistant,
high-yielding Millennium asparagus has dominated the market in recent years. Its story points to the very real benefits of researcher and grower cooperation, and highlights the necessity for ongoing trials to deliver nextgeneration genetic improvements. Such innovative progress cannot be left to the whim of trade winds. As news of the U.S. trade war broke, growers began to worry that tariffs might impact asparagus sales to the U.S. this spring, but as Marc Wall notes, exports to the east coast of the U.S. are booming. “Export markets are very strong; we can’t keep up with orders going across the line. We are very thankful for the CUSMA trade deal. There is no question, American buyers want Canadian-grown products,” says Wall, chief operations officer, Sandy Shore Farms Limited, Port Burwell, Ontario. In February 2025, year-on-year Canadian imports of
fresh and chilled asparagus had decreased by 12.8 per cent according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (www.oec.world) This was the result of lower imports from Mexico (down C$1.6M or 13.6%), United States (down C$50.9K or 42.9%). The reasons behind these declines are varied but what can be said with certainty is that the Canadian marketplace is primed and hungry for this year’s crop of the first field vegetable to be harvested each spring. Welsh Bros., a familiar presence at the Ontario Food Terminal, sell 50 acres of Scotland, Ontario asparagus at the wholesale market. “I’m optimistic about the 2025 crop as long as no tariffs come into play,” says Charles Welsh. “We have good consumer support for the first spring crop.
BC fruit & grape sector rebounds PG 4
AgriStability deadline extended PG 10
Logistics and transport PG 16
Volume 75 Number 06 P.M. 40012319
@growernews
KAREN DAVIDSON
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